Dr. Lydia Rump’s (http://agnr.umd.edu/directory/Bio.cfm?ID=lvrump) research interests include food safety and the identification of foodborne bacteria including unknown organisms, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Salmonella sp. She is currently a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Rump earned her Ph. D. in Food Chemistry/Microbiology at the University of Hamburg, Germany where she investigated the genetic cause for the lack of O157 expression in an atypical Escherichia coli O rough: H7 strain (MA6) which carries all characteristic O157:H7 virulence traits. Dr. Rump has been the recipient of an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) fellowship at the Food and Drug Administration and is currently a member of the International Association of Food Protection, The American Society for Microbiology, the Association of Analytical Communities International and the American Chemical Society.